Russia

Russia is a vast country with a thousand-year history, a well-educated and
ethnically diverse population, enormous natural resources, and a broad, but
declining industrial base. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia
has experienced great difficulties in moving from its old centrally planned
economy to a modern market economy. Financing for its space program has declined
sharply. Also, Russia's Baikonur space port is now in the sovereign nation of
Kazakhstan; some of its booster rockets are manufactured in Ukraine.

The Russian Space Agency (RSA) and the Energia corporation work to market Russia's
space services to other nations, as well as to form international partnerships
such as the Shuttle-Mir program with the U.S. and the International Space Station
with the U.S. and other countries.